OT: BEER Questions

NJ transplant from PA.  Although NJ certainly doesn't have the options PA does, it's actually pretty solid.  Flying Fish, River Horse, Forgotten Boardwalk, Carton and Kane all have very good options.

If you make it to Traverse City, hit up Rare Bird.  The best of a crowded craft beer scene IMHO.

Best craft brewers in Chicago, in my opinion are:

- Revolution - Citra Hero, Anti-Hero, A Little Crazy, T.V. Party, and Fistmas (the best Xmas beer in existence, in my opinion)

- Three Floyd's (Munster, IN) - Zombie Dust is the best stuff out there, almost all of their double IPAs are amazing

- Goose Island - Bourbon County Stout (in many varieties)

- Pipeworks - Ninja v Unicorn is my favorite

- Spiteful - IPA, Alley time

- Half Acre - Space, Galactic Daisy Cutter, Vallejo

But then you have Lagunitas, Haymarket, Two Brothers, Finch's, Begyle, and Solemn Oath too.  Long story short, come to Chicago and drink a lot of beer, next time you're here.

There's a craft brewery here called Dragoon Brewing:

http://www.dragoonbrewing.com/

In the back of a light industrial park.  :-)

Ohio -

Four String's Brass Knuckles - a good ale.

Columbus Brewing Company's Bodhi - a decent double IPA.

Seventh Son's Wee Beastie - AWESOME scotch ale.

Jackie O's Mystic Mama - a good fruity IPA.

Jackie O's Mandala - really good IPA, but not really for beginners.  It's an IPA on steroids.

Also Millersburg, Moerlein, Rhinegeist, and Zauber have pretty good beers.

any other questions

in Traverse City.

As far as local crafts I'm a Short's man; though to be honest there are a ton of great brewers around here. Workshop is my #2. The only craft beer I'm not a fan of is from a place called Right Brain brewery.

When you start making beer with beets I'm out.

Locally, Wolverine State Brewing is doing a lot of great stuff.

Arbor Sacred Cow IPA on hand pull is up there in the pantheon of great IPAs (note: must be on hand pull).

And if you like real session beers (4% ABV or less), Grizzly Peak's rotating taps often feature flavorful low-alcohol styles. Great stuff.

All in all, Ann Arbor's beer scene is way underrated.

With my last job I was fortunate enough to travel all over the country, and I alwasy insisted on trying local brews in each place I visited.  Personnally, I am not a fan of the over-hopped bitter palate busters.  However, the one piece advice I can give is to not shun IPA because they are notoriously hoppy.  I've tried some very flavorful IPAs that didn't taste like liquid grass.

Some of my favorites from the business trips: Santo- Saint Arnold Brewery, Houtson, TX, Velvet Rooster - Tallgrass Brewing Company, Manhattan, KS, and a few from Blue Mountain Brewery, Afton, Virginia.

If you have the itch to travel, I'd recommend going to Asheville.  It's like Disneyland for Beer.  The new Sierra Nevada brewery there is specifically designed for beer knurds and is worth a few hours of your trip.  Try the Bigfoot.

I live in Wichita and the craft beer is starting to pick up. The best place is Wichita Brewing Company and they have IPA along with a wheat beer. I'm an IPA guy and it's the best I have had in the area. The brewery just opened up a second location in town much closer to me so I go very often. The pizza is fantastic too. There's some other breweries starting to open up, but I haven't found one to WBC's standard yet. 

My tradition with my MGoWife is to go for $2 pint night on Tuesdays. She loves to drink craft beer out of a straw. I don't get it, but it's a fun time for the right price. 

If you're ever in Western North Carolina, swing by Asheville.  Many, many breweries to enjoy (and a great bottle shop called Bruisin' Ales).  But the best, in my humble opinion, is Wicked Weed.  They started with specializing in West Coast style big hoppy IPAs (hence the name), as well as Belgians.  They have grown quickly and now do a ton of barrel aged, sour, and wild ales.  But they do have something for pretty much every palate.  And 9 times out of the 10, it is very, very good.  Honestly, they make some of the best beers I've ever had.  I would put them up there with Founders, Bells, Russian River, Stone, etc...

I was in DE this summer and visited Fordham & Dominion for some tasty brews. 

Link

I particularly liked Dominion's a) Morning Glory and b) Oak Barrel Stout.  From the Fordham side a) Gypsy Lager and b) Sunseeker Wheat.

Also went to the Blue Earl, but didn't like their beers as much.

Or I was until a month ago.  I lived in Holland, so New Holland was my home. As someone above said, Dragon's Milk is good, but I love a good stout.  Their Poet stout is amazing. And their pizza is too. In undergrad at WMU we lived at Bell's. This is back when Oberon was called Solsun. Gives me a headache just thinking about it but man is it good. I was working in St. Joe and we would head down to The Livery. Anything they have is great. Try them all. Call a cab. Or an ambulance.

A good friend of mine in undergrad just opened one in Spring Lake called Dutch Girl - if you're up there give it a shot, and let me know how it is.  It just opened, and I havent been back in town to try it.

I am now in Des Moines, and looking for a good micro-brew round these parts. If anyone has suggestions, let me know.

I live in a town that has a snobby Co-Op that has a case full of over-priced craft beer.   I love walking by it on the way to my 6-pack of PBR in 16 oz. cans. 

For me, one of my favorite times of the year is heading up to Traverse City for a weekend in the fall and hitting all the breweries over 2-3 days. Lots of good stuff going on up there. Right Brain, North Peak, etc. 

Also have to mention Greenbush in Sawyer, MI. Small town, excellent beer.